Best pictures from December 26

Firefighters battle a wind-driven brush fire in Simi Valley, Calif. on Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2013. Strong Santa Ana winds spread the fire quickly, however, firefighters gained the upper hand in several hours after an all out assault using water dropping helicopters, engines, and hand crews.

Investigators check a damaged bus after a bomb blast near the Al-Azhar University campus in Cairo's Nasr City district December 26, 2013. The bomb blast hit the bus on Thursday, injuring four people, a spokesman for Egypt's interior ministry told Reuters, two days after a car bomb killed 16 in the Nile Delta.

Israeli Air Force acrobatic team T-6 Texan II planes perform during a graduation ceremony for new pilots in the Hatzerim air force base near the city of Beersheba, southern Israel, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013.

A hat that blew onto the field, is blown off the head of Australia's Chris Rogers after he put it on during the first day of the fourth Ashes cricket test against England, at the Melbourne cricket ground December 26, 2013.

An Indian woman cries as she with others offer prayers at Marina beach at the Bay of Bengal to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the 2004 Tsunami, in Chennai, India, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013. The Tsunami triggered by a magnitude-9.1 earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004, and killed tens of thousands in 12 Indian Ocean nations.

An elderly man offers prayers in Bhaktapur, Nepal, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013. Bhaktapur, also known as the city of devotees, is an ancient city dominated by the Newar community, and popular for its traditional architectural buildings, temples and unique festivals.

An Israeli demonstrator with an Israeli flag wrapped around himself takes part in a protest against the upcoming release of Palestinian prisoners, near the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv December 26, 2013. Israel is meant to release Palestinian prisoners at the beginning of next week in the third stage of a deal brokered by the United States in July that brought a resumption of peace talks.

Utility crews prepare to work on power lines at dusk, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013, in Litchfield, Maine, where many have been without electricity since Monday's ice storm. Up to 7 inches of snow is forecast, worrying utilities that the additional weight on branches and transmission lines could cause setbacks in the around-the-clock efforts to restore power.

Retired female workers dressed as red army soldiers sing revolutionary songs during a performance to mark the 120th birth anniversary of China's late Chairman Mao Zedong in Huaibei, Anhui province, December 26, 2013. China celebrated the 120th birthday of Mao, the founder of modern China, on Thursday, but with scaled-back festivities as President Xi Jinping embarks on broad economic reforms which have unsettled leftists.

People wearing masks walk in front of the statue of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong in a university, during a hazy day in downtown Shanghai December 26, 2013. China is struggling to meet its 2011-2015 targets to reduce pollution, cut greenhouse gas growth and introduce cleaner sources of energy, a report submitted to the country's parliament said on Wednesday.

Security guards salute near wreaths in front of a statue of the late Communist leader Mao Zedong in Shaoshan, Mao's hometown, in southern China's Hunan province, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2013. China's leaders bowed three times before a statue of Mao on the 120th anniversary of his birth Thursday in carefully controlled celebrations that also sought to uphold the market-style reforms that came after his death.

Greenpeace International activist Mannes Ubels of Netherlands jumps holding his passport as he celebrates getting permission to leave Russia, near the Federal Migration Service in St.Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2013. Russian investigators have dropped charges against all of the 30 crew of a Greenpeace ship, who were accused of hooliganism following a protest outside a Russian oil rig in the Arctic.